ComplaintsforCuckoo Clock Doctor

• Initial Complaint

  07/05/2022

  Complaint Type:

  Service or Repair Issues

  Status:

  Unanswered

  More info

  Hi, I sent in my non-working cuckoo clock to *************************, Cuckoo Clock Doctor, in November 2021, and received a reply email upon its receipt that he received it and would let me know when the work was done. I have not had any of my calls or emails acknowledged since then, almost 9 months! Based on other complaints, at this point, I either need my clock back not working (looking like it did when I sent it in) or functional. The lack of correspondence is unacceptable. His voice mail is still accepting calls. At this point, I don't even know if he is still alive. Any assistance is greatly appreciated. R/ *****

• Initial Complaint

  12/22/2021

  Complaint Type:

  Billing Issues

  Status:

  Answered

  More info

  I am very disappointed in you, your shop and your workmanship! I finally had my local cuckoo clock shop person (*** ****** of I Love Clocks XXX-XXX-XXXX) take the clock movement you said you fixed and he was going to install it into the case this month. He said he checked the movement and it would not run because it had several problems that made the movement unworkable including an escapement wheel with teeth missing. He was going to try to fix it but said it would take too much time because of several things wrong with it, and suggested I find a good antique cuckoo clock shop that can really fix the clock. I guess I wasted well over $500.00 dollars and a year and a half for nothing having you pretend to fix it even though you initially said it would only cost $350.00. THIS IS THE EMAIL I JUST SENT THE OWNER OF THE CLOCK SHOP - **** *******

  Business response

  04/08/2022

  Business Response /* (1000, 5, 2022/01/06) */ To whom this may concern, This entire complaint to the Better Business Bureau is absurd! In fact it is far beyond absurd! As a matter of fact of all the many words I can think of to describe this absolutely ridiculous complaint I believe ludicrous may be the most fitting. The only truth to this complaint is that this customer's clock movement was completely overhauled and rebuilt in my shop as well as both whistle pipes and bellows tops which were both recovered in traditional leather covering and decorated in period correct paper as requested by the customer with it having been received into my shop on April 17th of 2020 in pieces, rebuilt, thoroughly tested and shipped back to Mr. ******* upon completion of the work which is now at the time of this ludicrous complaint over SIX MONTHS AGO! This was shipped out to him on 6/18/2021. I typically do not restore just a clock movement only without the case for the movement to be installed inside the case by the owner for various reasons but agreed to do so in this case for Mr. ******* after being led to believe he was competent enough to simply install the restored mechanism into the decorative wooden case that he was unwilling to send. This movement was a very large and extremely robust spring driven clock movement built or even as one might say OVERBUILT by the famous Black Forest Clock Maker Alexander Flieg in the late 1800s which arrived at my shop both absolutely filthy with underlying rust issues and also completely disassembled by someone else. It was basically arrived a bunch of filthy parts. After assessing that all parts were indeed present, a thorough cleaning and dealing with the surface rust on the steel components, the movement was rebuilt, it received the appropriate number of bushings needed to correct the mechanical wear it had sustained, then correctly reassembled and tested on a bench stand for correct running and function of both wheel trains for several weeks. There were no broken teeth on the escape wheel or any other wheel in either of the two wheel trains upon arrival at my shop nor upon it's departure. If there were broken wheel teeth, not only would these have been repaired while here in my shop these could have not gone unnoticed as a broken escapement wheel tooth or multiple teeth of unknown number as being claimed by this customer and his local expert would have also prevented the clock from running which it did run and run very well during it's final testing period. After invoicing and receiving payment for work performed the movement was packed very well for shipping and shipped with all maintaining power from the very large mainsprings enclosed in brass barrels let down so there was no power available to either wheel train during it's shipment home. Every clock that I rebuild is sent home under my full warranty on workmanship for one year with Mr. *******'s clock being no exception. If this clock movement had been damaged during the shipment home which I highly doubt happened all he needed do was contact me informing me with the problem, I am easily able to be reached by both telephone and email, then return it so that the damage or problems could be verified and corrected however this was not done. This contact by the Memphis Area Better Business Bureau is the first contact I have received from this customer since his fully rebuilt clock movement and restored whistle/bellows left my shop back on June 13th. Unfortunately in this case by putting the clock into the hands of third party one hour much less for six months voids all claim to any warranty on my workmanship justifiably and for more than good reason. To simply take someone's word for any damage sustained is unacceptable when I can not visibly inspect to see that there is indeed damage and deduce how this damage came to be and correct it is unacceptable and I will not take any responsibility for it whatsoever. It seems that I am being publicly accused of being some sort of con man and my business a fraud by this accusation that I would knowingly send a clock out of my shop which I knew was broken and would not run having broken teeth of number unknown on the most important wheel in the movement. I restore approximately 100 cuckoo clocks each year and have been doing so for the past 23 years with a Legion of satisfied customers and I more than highly doubt in fact I know I would not have stayed in business for 23 years in a business where a man's reputation means everything if this even remotely be the case. Fortunately for myself I took detailed before and after photographs of this movement as I found it a most interesting project as well as I made video of the completed movement running on a bench test stand. These photographs and videos prove the escape wheel was intact with all teeth upon arrival at my shop, and that the clock was running here during it's testing. I suggest that if there is indeed damage done to this clock movement it likely was not incurred during it's shipment home to this customer but was likely incurred during it's past six months since it left my shop running while in the hands of a incompetent repair shop which was not selected to overhaul this movement in the first place instead contracting my shop to do the work and this damage is now being blamed on me? I will now state again that rather than telephone or otherwise contact me directly to report any problems after receiving his clock movement back this customer waits SIX MONTHS and still makes no attempt to contact me directly but instead chooses to launch this bogus complaint to the Better Business Bureau publicly attacking me and my reputation in attempt to damage my reputation and affect my business in a negative way and does this during the Holiday Season to add further insult to injury. I believe this is nothing more than a personal attack on both myself, my reputation, and an attempt by someone who is in league and working with one of my competitors to damage my business and promote their own business!! If this customer is claiming he gave the clock to an interested third party competitor which is now informing him of this damage that was supposedly done in my shop and sent out under fraudulent circumstances is in fact such an expert on this type of antique cuckoo clock mechanism I wonder why he wasn't chosen to restore this clock movement in the first place? This accusation raises so many questions such as this to me however to keep this simple and move on I will end by stating again that this clock was rebuilt and in perfect working order when leaving my shop and left my shop like all clocks do under a full warranty on workmanship for one full year after leaving my shop. This warranty provided on all of my work is made void by putting this clock mechanism into the hands of an interested third party competitor and I will now wash my hands of it completely. I will close this response by saying last but certainly not least both that at this point this customer and this local cuckoo clock expert of his Mr. *** ***** of I Love ***** are both welcome to GO FLY A KITE!! Consumer Response /* (3000, 7, 2022/01/07) */ (The consumer indicated he/she DID NOT accept the response from the business.) Hello BBB, I was surprised by sharpness of the Cuckoo Clock doctors response but not totally unexpected. I have a response to some of his comments (untruths and otherwise). I am just a customer who had a rare 1800's spring driven antique cuckoo clock that wanted to get it fixed. Initially, I asked my local clock person (*** ******) who specializes in 1900's weight driven cuckoo clock repair and has been in business probably 50 years to rebuild it. After disassembling the old dirty movement he told me he was sorry he didn't have the correct tools to put the clock back together because of the extra heavy duty springs are not something he has the tools to deal with. He suggested a clock shop that deals with spring driven antique mantel cuckoo clocks. I emailed ****-Cuckoo Clock Doctor and told him the movement were parts in a box circumstances, and he said no problem he loves these clocks and can clean and rebuilt it for $275 and $75 extra to rebuild the two bellows, just send all the parts to him, and it would be 3-6 months turnaround. I also told **** the Fleig clock case had some missing parts and damage and it needing rebuilding so I would do that since I like wood working. On April 13, 2020 I mailed the movement to ****. Over the next 14 months I e-mailed **** multiple times asking how he's doing working on the movement and if the movement is done yet. Finally, on June 13, 2021 I received a e-mail from Jody (his office person) to say the movement and bellows are finished and please remit a check for $554.00 so they can mail it to me. I immediately mailed the $554 check and at the end of June 2021 the box arrived with the movement and bellows. Then, the movement/bellows sat in the box in my house for a couple months since I assumed **** did his job and the movement was functional. During July and August 2021 my wife and I were traveling in our RV seeing the western USA as we had previously planned. On our return in September I asked *** (my local clock person) if he would reassemble the clock since the movement was rebuilt and I repaired the clock case so it is ready to be put back together. I told him just make sure the movement runs before you put it back in and the clock together. He agreed to put it back together. Then, sometime shorty after *** and his wife came down with Corona Virus (Covid-19) even though they both had their shots. But, ***'s situation took a turn for the worse and was in the hospital for many weeks on a ventilator and a one point not expected to live. But, amazingly *** got better and was finally discharged but on Oxygen 100% of the time, weak, unweight, fragile but slowly he began to recover and around early December he was off oxygen and could go out and work on clocks (like mine) in his clock shop. *** called me on December 20, 2021 to give me the bad news the movement doesn't work and told me several reasons why including the escapement wheel with teeth missing. The next day December 21, 2021 I sent **** the e-mail pointing out my disappointment in his work, and afterwards filed a complaint with BBB with this information because I felt I was misled and money taken from me in a false pretense the clock was rebuilt, fixed and would run, and I didn't want other customers to have to deal with the same problem. Now, I am just a consumer, who likes old clocks and I rely on clock movement experts like *** and **** to give me their expertise (advice and repair). I am not sure why *** would break a movement and lie about it being broken to me. He has nothing to gain from it since he can't work on these old style spring movements, and I was going to pay him to put the clock together anyway. I believe *** was just telling me how he found it. As I said previously he likes repairing/rebuilding 1900's weight driven wall cuckoo clocks and in fact has written a popular book on how to repair these 1900's cuckoo clocks. I have used ***'s clock expertise for years fixing and rebuilding clock movements, and he's done an excellent job every time. I don't have any ulterior motive, and I'm not a bad person just waiting to ruin ****'s holiday (like he mentioned) but a customer that didn't get what I paid for. If it would help BBB I have ****'s and my e-mails for the 14 months we corresponded, and I can print them and send them to you. I hope this BBB report I filed encourages **** to be more honest with his customers in the future. I hope **** realizes that I don't have bad feelings toward him but just asking for work that I paid for. It would be a nice gesture if **** would meet me half way and provide a partial refund to compensate for the movement that is currently not working. ******** ******* Business Response /* (4000, 11, 2022/01/28) */ To whom this may concern, I believed that I made myself very clear in my first response to this absolutely ludicrous complaint launched against my business and attempting to slander and cause harm to my personal and professional reputation but I must not have stated my position clearly enough for this person, whomever they indeed really are and whatever their motive be, to understand so I am now being forced to elaborate further here to make that point perfectly clear to all who may read this. This is in my opinion nothing more than an attempt for whatever reasons to attack and damage my business and or extort money from it for a service that was provided. The clock movement in question here left my shop undamaged and in perfect working order and just like every clock that leaves my shop it left my shop under full warranty. This person claims that the clock has been damaged by having multiple escape wheel teeth broken and then goes even further to allege that the clock was shipped from my shop broken and nonfunctional which would be fraud. If this damage does indeed exist it did not happen here in my shop!! I was not contacted about this supposed "damage" nor was any attempt made to use the provided warranty should that have been necessary. This complaint to the Better Business Bureau was launched at me like a sucker punch out of left field with no prior contact to inform me of any potential problems with or mysterious "damage" to said clock and it was also launched during the Holidays to add extra insult. I am well aware of exactly who this Mr. ***** character is and I have been aware of him and his practices for many years and I can assure anyone who reads this that this man is NO REPUTABLE COLLEAGUE OF MINE! I REPEAT HE IS NO REPUTABLE COLLEAGUE OF MINE!! If I had been given the slightest clue that this individual was involved in the slightest I would have rejected this job, yes refused it flat out and certainly would not have let myself be tricked into this situation thus I would not be sitting here now typing yet another response to these ridiculous ******** claims being made against me and my business! This person or people are accusing me of being most unethical, a cheat and even worse a liar. As I have stated I am not at all ignorant as to whom this competitor Mr. ***** is and I am also aware of the pathetic clock repair books this ***** character has written and what I will say to this is I truly feel very sorry for anyone out there that has wasted their three dollars and seventy five cents on any of his poorly written and utterly useless books. The fact that this man is the sub par Author of a book that has indeed contributed nothing of any value to this Craft or it's unfortunate readers certainly does not give him more credibility than me or put him in any way beyond reproach. This clock movement was a very large robust and very well built clock movement weighing near eight pounds. The only way I can imagine it was damaged in such a way as to have broken escape wheel teeth, that is in fact if it has really sustained any damage at all, would be for it to have taken quite an impact either perhaps by being dropped by a clumsy clock repair person or knocked off a work bench onto the floor landing just right as to break these teeth in such a way or perhaps more realistically that someone grabbed the escape wheel with a pair of pliers and gave a nice swift twist to snap a few teeth off the wheel. Whatever the cause of the damage if it at all exists happened at some point after this clock left my shop. Whatever the cause of this alleged damage may be it is totally irrelevant at this point. This persons failure to utilize the warranty I provide on my work has denied me the opportunity to verify that the piece is indeed damaged and examine it to determine what exactly caused the damage that is being claimed as well as repair the damage if after examination of the damage it proved to be somehow my fault. Again I state this clock left my shop in perfect working order under warranty. The provided warranty was not taken advantage of. I will under no circumstance issue any type of refund in this case, not one copper cent!! I will briefly speak to this person's claim that somehow he was charged too much money for the work of rebuilding of his antique spring driven cuckoo clock movement circa 1870. The claim that I agreed to rebuild this clock movement in the condition to which it was sent into my shop for a mere $275 is utterly false and ridiculous and is in my opinion only being thrown in there to somehow justify his demand for a refund as well as further slander my character and professional ethics by insinuating he was also overcharged as well as being sent back a broken clock that would not run. A person only need read on my website that my base price for a restoration of a cuckoo clock built after the end of World War Two is $339.00 It also states clearly on my website that antique cuckoo clock movements, three train movements, wooden plate movements etc. run slightly higher in price due to their added complexity etc. to claim other is an utter falsehood. Not only does my website publicly state that antique clock movements such as this one in question here cost higher than $339 it would also make no sense at all why I would rebuild this antique spring driven Alexander Fleig clock movement for less money than a much simpler and easy to rebuild modern built clock movement. There is no way, in fact it is inconceivable, that I would overhaul and rebuild this type of clock movement for that amount of money period! Again I will state my position and try and make it clear. This clock left my shop in perfect working order!! The amount of money charged for the service provided was correct! This clock left my shop under warranty!! The warranty was not used!! I will under no circumstance issue any refund in this case, not one copper penny!! In my opinion this is obviously an attack on my business and my professional reputation BY A COMPETITOR, an attempt to get a free clock repair and extort money back out of my business or a combination of both!! Regardless of what the motive behind this attack is the facts remain that this clock left my shop in perfect working order!! THIS CLOCK LEFT MY SHOP IN PERFECT WORKING ORDER!! THIS CLOCK LEFT MY SHOP UNDER FULL WARRANTY!! THE WARRANTY WAS NOT USED AND IN FACT NO ATTEMPT WAS EVEN MADE TO TAKE ADVANTAGE OF THE WARRANTY WHICH I FIND IN ITSELF TO BE HIGHLY SUSPICIOUS!! I WILL UNDER NO CIRCUMSTANCE ISSUE ANY TYPE OF REFUND IN THIS CASE, NOT ONE COPPER CENT!! ONCE AGAIN I SAY UNDER NO CIRCUMSTANCE WILL I ISSUE ANY TYPE OF REFUND IN THIS CASE!! These people obviously take me for some kind of fool and I can assure anyone that bothers to read this that I am certainly no fool and I will not allow these people to play me for a fool!! I am not dishonest with my customers and I will not sit back and be played and portrayed as being dishonest in my business!! In my Trade a person's reputation is everything and I will not sit back and allow my character and my good reputation as a Clock Maker to be slandered and my ethics called into question on this or any other public forum!! I am a Professional and I will not be falsely accused of bad and unethical business practice!! There is absolutely no truth to these allegations!! I do not accept the fact that this person is just doing some noble and good deed by accusing me of dishonesty and unethical business practice while in his own words in his rebuttal to my initial response he boldly admits that he is in fact trying to negatively affect my business and my reputation by "encouraging me to be more honest with my future customers" ALL WHILE ADVERTISING HOW WONDERFUL, EXCELLENT AND GOOD THIS COMPETITOR OF MINE HE IS WORKING WITH IS WHO MUST BE BEYOND REPROACH AND HIS POSSIBLE MOTIVES NOT BE QUESTIONED!! What a bunch of malarkey! This clock left my shop in perfect working order and i will not allow myself and my business to be extorted for a job I was hired to do that was done well and competently, not for one stinking penny!! I will not give refund on what if indeed there is any truth to the "damage" this clock movement incurred AFTER IT LEFT MY SHOP and on what could have been a potential warranty claim!! This clock left my shop in good working order with warranty and that is exactly what this person paid for and received! I will not ACCEPT THE WORD OF A BUSINESS COMPETITOR, MOST ESPECIALLY THIS PARTICULAR COMPETITOR on the condition they claim a clock must have left my shop as if they are somehow magically clairvoyant and all knowing when I know the claim is simply not true and when I have also been denied of any opportunity to examine the clock to determine the extent of damage if any and to ascertain the cause of said damage!! This second response I have now given is the END of this matter as far as I am concerned!

• Initial Complaint

  10/20/2021

  Complaint Type:

  Service or Repair Issues

  Status:

  Answered

  More info

  I shipped my cuckoo clock for repair. I have made several phone calls and emails and the business will not respond to my calls or emails. At this point I am concerned that I will not receive my clock back!

  Business response

  12/15/2021

  Business Response /* (1000, 10, 2021/11/16) */ Contact Name and Title: **** ******** Contact Phone: XXXXXXXXXX Contact Email: ****@cuckooclockdoctor.com This incident was a simple misunderstanding that occurred while dealing with two different customers with very similar names both contacting my shop at near the same time asking for an update as to the repair status of their clocks in which one customer was contacted but not the other. Given the fact we are in the months near to the holiday season which is our busiest time of year and given 2021 has been our busiest year on record to date I suppose simple mistakes can happen given the amount of customer correspondence we must deal with on a daily basis. Upon realizing what had happened I immediately reached out and made contact with the customer that had difficulty receiving a response from us and explained what had happened and also gave the requested information as to the status of their clock repair. Upon speaking with this customer she seemed satisfied with my explanation for what had happened and my apology for having difficult in contacting us for an update and also satisfied with the progress report on her clock repair which was given at that time. Given the fact it appears that this customer which reached out to you (Better Business Bureau) with this issue reported to you that I had made contact with them, explained the nature of the problem, and gave the requested update on their clock repair I honestly do not understand why this is still an issue and this complaint has not been marked as satisfactorily resolved on the BBB's end of things. I restore a considerable number of clocks in a calendar year and as the work begins when a clock arrives, they are finished, thoroughly tested and return home in the order in which they have arrived to be fair to all customers. We have clocks coming into the shop and going home each week. We have contact with each customer when their clocks come to us and when their clocks are ready to come home and in almost every case at least once if not multiple times during the restoration process as they ask for updates which we are happy to provide to customers. I can not speed up the amount of time it takes to restore each clock and the turnaround time is dictated by the number of other customers clocks which are in the shop ahead of any new arrival which is backlog. This customer and every customer will be contacted and invoiced once their clock is finished with the restoration process and tested thus being ready to return home and we also ask to verify the return shipping address etc. so we can complete the transaction. Again I believe this matter has been resolved satisfactorily and it should be considered as such and handled and marked accordingly by your (BBB) organization.

• Initial Complaint

  09/08/2021

  Complaint Type:

  Service or Repair Issues

  Status:

  Resolved

  More info

  I mailed a clock for repair in November of 2020. I have been told in June of 2021 that the clock will be repaired soon. It is now September of 2021 and still no repairs. I even requested the company return my clock so I could find a professional service provider. I don't believe they plan on repairing or sending my clock back. My next step is to seek legal action.

*Some consumers may elect to not publish the details of their complaints, some complaints may not meet BBB's standards for publication, or BBB may display a portion of complaints when a high volume is received for a particular business. ↩